Snowball Fight
by zosimos
Summary: The Twelve Days of Ficmas, Day 7: Ed is just kind of a handful, isn't he? Roy/Ed fluff.


Alphonse Elric sighed. It was a practiced motion, almost completely unconscious despite the fact that he did not, actually, breathe. He lifted his head and stared at the dull gray ceiling of clouds above them.

They had been rather unceremoniously kicked out of the library. Alphonse had warned his brother - multiple times, even - that he needed to cut out the theatrics; but Edward was running on empty and often the only way to get him to put down a book required a greater commotion than the one he had been in the center of to begin with. It really was not that bad, Edward was just ranting to himself about the theory the entire textbook centered on - which made Alphonse wonder quietly why Edward did not just put _down_ the book and leave it be.

It had snowed since they went into the library this morning. The fresh, unbroken field of white stretched on either side of the library's front lawn. The sidewalks themselves had already been shoveled by industrious caretakers - the snow was soft right now, but it would harden to slush and ice over night.

Alphonse looked over at Edward - who was still going, in the midst of a rant that had started off about librarians, veered into Roy's sarcastic lectures and now was currently on about, apparently, lettuce. Maybe he should have actually paid attention to this particular diatribe, but knowing his brother he'd be done and on to a different topic in another minute or two.

Edward _always_ got unusually testy in the cold weather. Alphonse knew that the automail bothered him, and he also knew that Edward refused to show that weakness to him. His brother was a stubborn, bullheaded idiot and occasionally Alphonse was tempted to just hold him outside the window by his ankles and shake him until he came to his senses. Alphonse made a little vocal sound of amusement at that particular thought, and then looked over to Edward in alarm, in case Edward decided that that particular chuckle was a slight of some kind.

Except, Edward was no longer standing beside him.

Alphonse stared at the spot Edward had occupied, and then swiveled and looked around quickly, his helmet scraping loudly against the armor with the velocity of the motion. Thankfully, Edward wore that obscenely bright red coat all the time, even in winter - and that made him easy to spot against the brilliant white of the snow. He had darted across the lawn, toward the cover of some of the larger trees. Alphonse watched him move, confused, about to shout his name - and then he saw the colonel headed up the walk toward the library, presumably having heard of their less-than-dignified expulsion.

"Oh, brother," Alphonse muttered. "You _aren't._"

Perhaps it was because Colonel Mustang was not accompanied by Lieutenant Hawkeye that emboldened Edward. Colonel Mustang was, for once, alone. Alphonse shook his head and sighed again, torn between warning the colonel, stopping his brother, or just sitting back to watch the chaos unfold.

Alphonse knew that his brother had feelings for the colonel. It was no secret, no matter how much Edward pretended otherwise. He would be very late - very late in for the night and not talk about why, his hair in a very messy braid and bruises on his neck and, occasionally, on his thighs that Alphonse pretended not to see when he changed. He knew that whatever Edward had, he would give it all up in a heartbeat if Alphonse asked him to, he was ridiculously selfless in that regard. But Alphonse did not want him to. Even if Edward pretended otherwise, this thing he had with the colonel made him happy, and by virtue of that alone, it made Alphonse happy.

Right now, though...

"Colonel," Alphonse called out, waving his hand to catch the man's attention. Not that people tended to ignore a seven-foot-tall suit of armor, but he tried hard not to draw attention to himself most of the time. "Good afternoon sir, you should watch-"

Without even looking, Roy Mustang drew his arm from his pocket, extended it out to the side, and snapped his fingers. The volley of snowballs launched from Edward's arms were hit in midair by a small burst of flame and turned almost instantly to mist.

"-out," Alphonse finished, dropping his arm.

"DAMMIT!" Edward shrieked from behind the tree, giving away his location instantly. "DAMMIT, DAMMIT, _DAMMIT!_"

"The snowball fight ended _yesterday,_ Fullmetal," Colonel Mustang called smoothly, stopping at the bottom of the steps. "How are you, Alphonse?"

Alphonse bowed his head forward slightly. "I think brother needs lunch and a nap," he said apologetically. "We've been kicked out of the library again."

"So I've heard." Colonel Mustang murmured. He inclined his head, glancing back at Edward without actually turning his head, before returning his attention to Alphonse. "But I asked how you were, Alphonse."

"Oh, uh. I'm fine, sir." Alphonse stuttered, rubbing the back of his helmet sheepishly. "I'm sorry I haven't been keeping as good a leash on brother lately, he just keeps disappearing every time I turn around."

"It's quite easy to lose track of him, I understand," the colonel said with a tight smile.

Edward's bellow of rage could be clearly heard. "I am NOT so SMALL I GET _LOST_ BETWEEN THE _SNOWFLAKES_-!"

Again, without looking, Colonel Mustang tossed off another well-timed bit of fire alchemy, incinerating the much-larger (and thrown with both hands) snowball. "I'll talk to the librarian. I'm sure if I take him off your hands for a few hours that they will allow you back in to continue your studies unmolested."

"I'd greatly appreciate it," Alphonse folded his hands before him and bowed lower. "Although, if you are going to lecture him, please feed him first because he's very irritable today."

The smirk that settled on Colonel Mustang's features made Alphonse think that perhaps he had just sold his brother out in some manner, but he refused to think on it further. "That can certainly be arranged," Colonel Mustang nearly purred. "Come, let's go talk to the librarian. I'm sure that Fullmetal can fend for himself out here for a few minutes, unless another light snow comes along and buries him."

Alphonse held the door open for Colonel Mustang, before glancing back at his brother. Edward was ranting to the tree, kicking his boots in the snow angrily - he had not even noticed Colonel Mustang's slight. Alphonse made another small noise of amusement. He would have never thought that his brother would be interested in the colonel like he was, but he was glad. Edward deserved every bit of happiness he could scrape together … and Alphonse would do what he could to make sure that Edward got to keep it.

* * *

><p>Promises to Keep: Prompt 7 - "Snowball Fight"<p> 


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